1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to footwear, and more particularly to a shoe designed for use in athletic activities.
2. Description of the Related Art
The foot can be subjected to stresses during athletic activities. Existing athletic shoes, such as those disclosed by Thais et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,981, Richardson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,960, Onitsuka, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 27,512, and Mitsui, U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,568, are primarily constructed to provide support for the instep and ankles of the wearer while running or jumping. In addition to running and jumping, some sports and fitness activities require the participant to engage in kicking maneuvers, such as martial arts and soccer. The top, sides, sole, and heel of the feet can sustain severe blows during such activities. Additionally, kicks can be landed against another person during certain activities, either inadvertently or, in the case of the martial arts, while sparring. There is a possibility that the impact of knotted shoe laces or other shoe fastening structure can injure the participants during athletic activities such as sparring. It is therefore desirable to provide a shoe which protects from such injuries during activities such as martial arts, kick boxing, and soccer.
Prior art shoes adapted to prevent injury from kicking are generally those designed specifically for use in the martial arts. Such shoes are known to have significant limitations. For example, such shoes generally do not have a shoe lacing arrangement. As a lacing arrangement often provides the greatest degree of support for the ankle of the wearer, prior art martial arts shoes generally do not have the ankle support that is found in many athletic shoes. In addition, conventional martial arts shoes are generally not suitable for street wear.
Another limitation of conventional shoes for use in activities involving kicking, such as soccer, kick boxing, and martial arts, involves the padding used throughout the shoe. For example, martial arts shoes disclosed in Oh et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,609, Frederickson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,715, Wren, Jr., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,970, and Rhee, U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,722 disclose foot protectors which are little more than foam pads strapped to the foot.
Andujar, U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,672 (Andujar), discloses a protective shoe for use in contact sports such as martial arts. In Andujar, the shoe upper is constructed of foam, and includes additional protective pads on its ankle and top portions. The shoe is secured by a single elastic strap held in place by Velcro(copyright) fasteners. This fastening system would not provide a significant amount of support to the ankles of the wearer, and could easily slip and become displaced, causing the wearer to become unbalanced. Collins, U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,613, similarly discloses a padded boot for use in the martial arts. This shoe is also secured by a single elastic strap with Velcro(copyright) fasteners.
Rhee, U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,493, discloses a protective shoe constructed of energy absorbing resilient material and a substantially open bottom. The open bottom allows the foot of the wearer to contact the floor or the ground. The shoe designed by Rhee is for use only in a gym or sparring ring, and is obviously unsuitable for everyday wear.
Bottoms, U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,015, discloses a karate and kickboxing protective boot which has an open back and a detachable heel protector portion. This boot is designed strictly for use in a sparring ring.
Ward, U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,928, discloses a slip-on type shoe for use in the martial arts. This shoe is constructed of a lightly padded material. Ward does not disclose the use of heavy padding positioned on the foot so as to absorb the impact of a kick against a kicking bag or opponent.
It would be advantageous to provide a shoe which is adapted for activities involving kicking that can protect a wearer of the shoe and/or a partner from injury, while also providing ankle support to the wearer.
A padded shoe, according to an embodiment of the invention, includes a shoe upper which is adjoined to a sole. The shoe upper includes padding material disposed therein, which can be closed-cell foam padding. The sole of the shoe can have a smooth lower surface or a textured lower surface, and can also include a plurality of gripping protrusions. The shoe upper includes a padded tongue having an inner tongue portion and an outer tongue portion. The inner and outer tongue portions can each have a lower end attached to the shoe upper and a free upper end. A fastening structure, which is tightenable to maintain the shoe on the foot of the wearer is disposed between the inner and outer tongue portions. The shoe includes an engagement structure to secure the outer tongue portion to at least one of the inner tongue portion and the shoe upper. When a wearer of the padded shoe strikes a target with the padded tongue, the target and/or the wearer are protected from direct impact with the fastening structure.
The padding within the shoe upper can be positioned within the shoe upper to generally correspond to at least one of the following locations on the foot of the wearer: the forward dorsal region, the instep, the posterior aspect of the heel, the left and right forward lateral aspects of the foot, and the ankle portion. At least a portion of the perimeter of the shoe can be chamfered to provide a smooth arcuate edge. The sole can be formed at least partially from crepe rubber.
The fastening structure can include a lace threaded through oppositely disposed eyelets. The engagement structure can include mated snaps or mated portions of hook and loop fastening material. The shoe upper can extend at least to the ankle of the wear, and the padded tongue can extend above the shoe upper.
A second embodiment of the shoe, according to the invention, can include a shoe upper which is adjoined to a sole. The shoe upper includes padding disposed therein, which can be closed-cell foam padding. The shoe upper can include a padded tongue having side edges, and one or more resilient portions. The resilient portions can have a first edge adjoined to the side edges of the padded tongue and a second edge adjoined to the shoe upper. The resilient portions allow a portion of the shoe upper to be outwardly distended to allow the insertion of the foot of the wearer. The foam padding can be positioned within the shoe upper to generally correspond to at least one of the following locations on the foot of the wearer: the forward dorsal region, the instep, the lateral and posterior aspects of the heel, the left and right forward lateral aspects of the foot, and the ankle portion. The sole can have a smooth or a textured lower surface, and can include a plurality of gripping protrusions. At least a portion of the perimeter of the sole can be chamfered. The sole can be formed at least partially from crepe rubber.
A third embodiment of the shoe includes a shoe upper adjoined to a sole. The shoe upper includes padding material therein, which can be closed-cell foam padding. The shoe can include a padded tongue having a first end attached to the shoe upper and a second free end. The sole of the shoe can have a smooth lower surface or a textured lower surface, and can also include a plurality of gripping protrusions. In addition, the sole can be formed at least partially from crepe rubber. The padding material can be positioned within the shoe upper to generally correspond to at least one of the following locations on the foot of the wearer: the forward dorsal region, the instep, the lateral and posterior aspects of the heel, the left and right forward lateral aspects of the foot, and the ankle portion.
The shoe can further include a shin guard detachably connected to the padded tongue. The shin guard preferably has a convex front surface and a concave rear surface, and extends upwardly from the shoe to be in contact with the shin of the wearer. The shin guard can be configured to closely engage with the shin of the wearer. The shoe can further include at least one strap connected to the elongate member to secure the shin guard to the lower leg of the wearer. The strap can include a fastening structure. The shoe can include an engagement structure to secure the elongate member to the padded tongue. The shin guard can comprise portions of hook and loop fastening material, or mated snaps. The shin guard can include padding disposed therein. The front surface of the elongate member can include a recess approximately the same width of the strap which is adapted to receive the strap when the shin guard is secured to the lower leg of the wearer.